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(No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. B. FOWLER & G. E. WARREN. SHOE SEWING MAGHINE.

No. 564,986. Patented Aug. 4, 1896 YYI E E: s 5 E s I \zerffar's (N6M0661.) 2 Sheets-Sh6et 2. A. B. FOWLER 86 G. E. WARREN. SHOE SFWINGMACHINE No. 564,986. Patented Aug. 4, 1896.

wi fl esse UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcF.

ALFRED .B. FOWLER AND GEORGE E. W'ARREN, OF PAXVTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND,ASSIGNORS TO THE LINCOLN SERVING MACHINE COMPANY, OF

EXETER, NEW' HAMPSHIRE.

SHOE-SEWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,986, dated August4, 1896. Application filed May 1, 1895. Serial No, 547,776. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ALFRED l3. FowLnn and GEORGE E. lVARREEofPawtucket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Means for Providing Slack-Thread in Hook-Needle Chain-Stitch Sewing- Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in Which- Figure 1 is an elevation of portions of asewing-machine, showing the parts in one position. Fig. 2 shows the mainparts in another position.

Our invention consists in the combination, with the tension, pull-oft,looper, and hookneedle, of mechanism for actuating the pulloff, andmechanism for actuating the needle, organized to pull off thread fromthe threadsupply through the tension after the needle has completed itsloop-drawing stroke and while the needle holds a loop under strain inits hook, and thus supply slack thread for the next stitch, when thepull-oit' and needle make their forward strokes.

In our application now pending, Serial No. 5 1t7,775, filed May 1, 1895,we have described a ohainstitch hook-needle sewingmachine in which therendering of the thread is reduced to a minimum, by providing slackthread on both sides of the hook of the needle, until the needle hasnearly reached the end of its back stroke, the slack thread on the chainor stitch side of the needle being supplied from the preceding loop ofthread, and the slack thread on the thread-supply side of the needlebeing supplied by a pulloff mechanism which pulls the thread from thethread-supply through the tension; and our present invention is animproved machine tor doing this, its main novelty being that thepull-cit mechanism does its Work after the needle has completed itsloop-drawing stroke and while the needle holds a loop of thread in itshook under the strain requisite to set the stitch, instead of relyingupon a thread-brake to hold the thread against the action of the pull-0dtruck, as described in our application above referred to.

sion, the pull-off truck, the mechanism for taking up slack, the looper,and the hookneedle, not diitering substantially from the like parts inthe machine described in our application, Serial No. $7,775, filed May1, 1895, the mechanism for actuating the needle and the mechanism foractuating the pulloff truck so cooperate that the needle acts to holdthe thread against the action of the pulloii truck, thereby making amuch better and simpler machine and a machine which is especiallyadvantageous in the manufacture of welted shoes and turned shoes.

The position of the parts when the stitch is set is shown in Fig. 1;that is, the needle is at the end of its back stroke and the last stitchhas been set and the thread drawn taut from the hook of the needlethrough the last needle-hole in the work, through the looper, over truck17*, under the slack-taking truck F, over truck 17 in front of trucks band Z), and in rear of pull-0ft truck B, to tension A. The needle isthus holding the thread, so that when the pull-off truck B is moved backby its cam B, acting through lever 12 and arm 5, the thread will bepulled off from the thread-supply through tension A, and cam B is aboutto cause pull-oft truck B to make its pull-off stroke, while the needleholds the thread under strain in its hook.

In Fig. 2 the pull-oft truck B has made its back stroke, the looper hasacted to shorten 1 the loop which is then about the shank of the needle,for the thread is then taut between the tension and the stock, and whenthe looper moves, to lay the thread in the hook of the needle, thethread required for that motion of the looper is drawn from that loop.After the looper has thus shortened the loop and laid the thread in thehook of the needle the needle is drawn back, the pull-off truck 13 alsomoving to give up thread as the needle is drawn back, the slack-truck Ftaking up the slack, but its spring f is so light that the slack istaken up only sufficiently to insure the proper operation of the looperin laying the thread in the hook of the needle. After the needle makesits back stroke, drawing a new loop of thread through 50 While ourimproved machine has the torn the stock and the preceding loop, thepull-oft Ioo truck moves and slackens the thread between the needle-hookand the tension, the preceding loop furnishing slack thread between theneedle-hook and the preceding stitch; but when the needle has nearlyreached the end of its back stroke the thread becomes taut on both sidesof the needle, so that the needle sets the stitch just as it reaches.the end of its back stroke, and the thread then renders slightly throughthe hook of the needle and under the strain of the tension, thisrendering under strain being reduced to the minimum by the properadjustment of pull-oflf truck B.

All the parts not lettered in the drawings are too well known to requiredescription.

WVe are aware of the patent to Gooding and Keith, No. 484,958, datedOctober 25, 1892, in which the looper is described as so timed that itwill draw thread from the takeup while the needle is drawing the loopthrough the stock and setting the previous stitch, and we disclaim allthat is shown in that patent, as our invention requires a pullotf whichis separate and distinct from the looper. Moreover, in our invention itis essential that the pull-ofi shall not operate while the needle isdrawing the loop through the stock, for in that case the pull-o1f wouldact as a take-up and cause the thread to render through the hook of theneedle and would not pull off the proper length of thread from thetension; but when the pull-01f draws thread from the tension after theneedle has completed its loop-drawing stroke and while the needle holdsthe loop of thread under the strain due to the tension, the full lengthof thread is drawn from the tension, and the rendering of the threadwhile under strain through the hook of the needle is reduced to theminimum, and this without need of any thread-brake or the like, toprevent the pulloff from acting as a takeup.

The advantage derived from holding the thread while the pull-01f truckmakes its back stroke is fully set forth in our application abovereferred to, but in the machine described in that application athread-brake is shown as the means for so holding the thread, and thesubstantive advantage of holding the thread in the hook of the needle,as in the machine described in this application, is that theconstruction is simplified by the omission of a thread-brake or itsequivalent, and greater certainty of action is secured, while theadvantage derived from holding the thread in the hook of the needle whenthe pull-ofi. is operated, rather than holding such thread by theneedleshank, (for example as in Patent No. 412,704, dated October 8,1889, to French and Meyer) is that a supply of thread for the loop aboutto be drawn is maintained in the preceding loop, which is impossible ifthe shank of the needle is relied upon to hold the thread, for in thelatter case the pull-ofitruck on its back stroke operates first as atake-up, drawing back the thread until the loop is tightened about theshank of the needle, and thereby necessitating the use of an additionalmechanism to form a bight of thread between the stock and the throat orthe needle.-

WVhat we claim as our invention is- In a chain-stitch hook-needlesewing-111achine the combination of tension; looper: hookneedle; apull-off mechanism between the needle and the tension; and actuatingmechanism timed to cause the pull-off mechanism to make itspulling-stroke after the hook-needle has completed its loop-drawingstroke and while the loop is held under strain by the hook of theneedle; substantially as described.

ALFRED B. FOWLER. GEORGE E. WARREN. \Vitnesses:

M. E. DOLLOFF, A. L. GOODING.

